Moss's New Friend
by ITCrowdLover
Summary: A new girl means a new friend for Moss, the sweet, awkwardly geeky IT guy. But what do the people on Floor 5 think of Claire and Moss's friendship? And I don't own. All rights go to Graham Linehan.
1. A Restart

Hey guys! I know that some of you quite liked the other IT Crowd story that I started, but I thought up of some newer and in my opinion more improved ideas. So please stay with me and read and review my new story.

I hope that you are not too annoyed at the fact that I have started this story again, but please stay with me, I am hoping that this story will be better than my last one. So please enjoy and judge the story as well as you can!

Thanks, fellow fanfiction readers!


	2. Have you Heard?

**Moss's POV**

"Get out of the lift. Get out of the lift."

I managed to carry on reading as I heard the doors of the lift being forced open. I shook my head, resulting in my glasses sliding down my nose. The sliding doors from the lift down the corridor were getting more and more stiff as the weeks went on.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," I heard Roy growl as he stomped down the corridor. He continued to curse as he walked into the room. He stopped at my desk and waited for me to finish the paragraph of my new book.

"Hey, Moss," said Roy, briefly stopping at my desk and putting down a cup of coffee in front of me.

"Bear with me, Roy," I said, finishing the second paragraph of the first chapter of the second Harry Potter. He nodded and stuck his head in the doorway of Jen's office to say hi to her.

"Here's your coffee," said Roy, walking past my desk, nodding at the cup. "Have you finished comparing the first Harry Potter book then?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "I'm on the Chamber of Secrets book now."

"And how are you doing with that?" He asked, appearing to hold back a laugh.

**Roy's POV**

I just about managed to keep a straight face as I asked Moss with how he was doing with comparing the texts in the adult and child editions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

"Hang on a second!" He suddenly shouted, making me jump.

"What is it?" I asked, unusually curious.

"A semi colon! That's definitely different!" He gasped, eyes wide behind his glasses.

"Wow," I said, trying to sound shocked.

"I know!" He said, trying to calm himself down, unaware of my sarcasm. "Should I write to JK Rowling?"

"I wouldn't if I were you, Moss," I advised. "She has had so much success, I don't think a semi colon would bother her. Did you hear that a new person has been employed here?"

"No," he said, looking up and sipping his coffee. "What floor?"

"Probably Floor 5," I said, trying not to sound too excited.

"Knowing Reynholm it would be someone employed for Floor 5," Moss agreed.

"I want to set up her computer," I said quickly.

"Fine," said Moss, shrugging his shoulders. "I want to finish comparing these books anyway."


	3. Turning it off and on again

**Claire's POV**

I glanced around the office quickly, trying to see what my new place of work was going to be like. The boss of the company, Mr Reynholm kept on looking me up and down. I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable with how he was looking at me.

"So," he said. "Miss… Andrews…"

"That's right," I said, thankful that he finally started talking.

"This is your first day," he stated. "First of all, I want you to stand up. I want to take a look at you."

"Why?" I asked.

"I want to have a look to see what floor you should be on," he replied.

"I don't see why looking at me would help," I said, standing up. "I have given you my CV. That must have given you everything you need to know about me and my past occupations."

"Hmm…" he said, looking at me up and down. "I think Floor 5 would be the most suitable place for you to work."

"O…K…" I said, turning towards the door. "I will make my way there now. Thank you."

It was only when I closed the door to Mr Reynholm's office that I realised that I didn't ask the way to the seventh floor. Luckily, a woman with ginger hair walked past me.

"Excuse me," I said, stopping her. "I'm new and I need to find the way to the fifth floor. Could you tell me where it is?"

"Down the corridor to the lift, press the button that says '5' on it and keep walking," she explained. "Good luck with your computer."

"Thanks," I said, unsure that she heard me.

I walked into the room on Floor 5 and sat down at an empty computer. I looked up at another girl who hadn't acknowledged me as I walked in.

"Hey," I said. "My name is Claire. What's yours?"

"Katie," she said, barely looking up from her computer.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Katie," I smiled, holding out my hand so we could shake hands. She looked at my hand, looked back up at me and then back to her computer again.

I tried to turn on my computer but it didn't even turn on. I tried to press it a few more times and then it started to beep again and again.

"Do you have an IT department here?" I asked Katie.

"Yup," she replied, not looking up from her computer.

"How can I contact them?" I questioned.

"Press '0' on the phone," she said, looking more and more fed up of my questions.

I started to make the call. A great start to my first day.

**Moss's POV**

I quickly looked up as the phone rang. I waited as Roy took the phone and began the usual conversation. It was always annoying that we never knew which floor was contacting us and we had to wait until the end of the conversation to ask. Had no one heard of caller i.d?

"Hello IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

He paused as he waited for the answer.

"You haven't?" he asked. "Well I don't care if you don't think that it will make any difference. You can stick it up –"

I quickly stepped forward and took the phone off Roy. Luckily I have a bit more patience.

"This is IT," I said.

"I know, your lovely friend just said," she said.

"It's really worth turning it off and on again," I said.

"Hang on," she said. I waited as she tried to work her computer.

"There's no luck," she sighed.

"Is it plugged in?" I asked.

"I'm sorry?" she asked in disbelief.

"You should just check," I advised.

"It's plugged in," she said. "The computer is just making random beeping noises."

"What floor?" I asked.

"Five," she replied.

"OK, floor five," I said, writing it down to remind myself. Roy looked up in disbelief.

"I'm new today, so it's not the best start to a new job," she laughed.

"See you soon," I said, trying to end the conversation as soon as possible. I only felt completely comfortable talking to Jen and Roy.

"Thank you," she said. I put down the phone before the conversation could continue.

"Moss, you should really be less abrupt with what you say," lectured Jen as she walked into the room.

"Excuse me," I said. "I think you will find that I was a lot better than Roy over there. He was about to tell that girl exactly what he thought of her. It's her first day as well with the people on Floor Five."

"The new girl?" gasped Roy. "Moss, I said that I wanted to help her with her computer!"

"I don't think she'd want to talk to you," I said. "You weren't exactly friendly to her on the phone."

"She won't be able to tell that I was the one on the phone to her!" he said.

"Roy, you're Irish," I said. "Of course she will tell that it was you."

Annoyed that I had to speak with more people on the upper levels, I began to walk up to the fifth floor, hoping that this would be my only job for that day.


	4. A Virus

**Roy's POV**

I sighed as I heard the lift take Moss away from the basement. He never meant to, but he always managed to get the opportunity to fix the young girls' computers because he was so damn patient. Except when I got trapped under a desk, but I don't really count that.

"What's up with you?" Asked Jen as she walked into the room with some papers.

"I told Moss that I wanted to set up the new girl's computer," I said. "But no, he had to get there first."

"You aren't exactly polite," said Jen. "You start all your phone conversations with asking if someone has turned their computer off and on again. Besides, Judy likes you."

"Jen, Judy has hair growing on her eyeballs," I said. "I don't want to be set up with her, thanks very much."

**Moss's POV **

As I got to the right floor, I glanced around the area where everyone worked. I looked for a stroppy looking person who was waiting impatiently for their computer to be fixed. Eventually, I located a girl around my age with brown hair. She looked a bit nervous, like me when I meet new people. I walked up quietly behind her and cleared my throat.

She jumped so high in the air I thought she was going to hit the ceiling.

"Excuse me," I said quietly. "Are you the person with the computer problem?"

**Claire's POV**

I smiled at the man with the black frizzy hair.

"Yes, that's me," I said. "That was quick! My name is Claire. What's your name?"

"That's easy," said Katie, finally looking up from her computer. "He's the IT guy."

"I mean your actual name," I said.

"Moss," he said. I assumed that was a nickname.

"Nice to meet you," I said. "What about your friend who picked up the phone first?"

"Roy," he replied.

"Moss and Roy," I repeated. "I will try and remember that."

"So, about your computer," he began.

"I'm guessing that it's a virus of some sort," I said.

"You're right," he said. "I will just set up an anti - virus software. It may take some time. Done."

"It didn't take some time!" I laughed. "It only took you a second!"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Now that's sorted, I should get back downstairs," he said.

"Right," I replied. "Thanks, Moss."

Finally, he smiled. It looked as if he wasn't used to being appreciated.


	5. Different in a Good Way

**Moss's POV **

I sat back down at my desk and continued with the programming code I was working on before the phone call came through. I sensed that Roy was going to say something so I looked up at him.

"So," said Roy.

"So what?" I asked.

"The new girl that you went to see," he replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The one that you were desperate to talk to on the phone."

"Roy, I wasn't desperate to talk to her," I sighed. "You weren't being very polite on the phone and I knew that Reynholm might fire you so I was trying to save your skin."

"I guess she wouldn't take much of an interest in us anyway," said Roy. "We are the standard nerds."

"Quite the opposite," I said. "She was asking what our names were and everything."

"Oh," he said, shrugging his shoulders. Suddenly, Jen wandered out of her office.

"So, what was she like?" Asked Jen, smiling.

"Ok, I guess," I said. "She seemed to appreciate me getting rid of the virus on her computer."

"Seems like she has taken a liking to you," she teased.

"Let's face it, Jen," I said. "Somehow I don't think we will be getting any visits down here any time soon."

**Claire's POV **

I watched Moss as he walked away from the computer, trying not to trip over the wires. He paused at another computer and plugged it in.

"He is so weird," sneered Katie, watching him walk away. He stopped again and sprayed something at his ear. He continued walking, nearly tripping over his feet.

"I would never say weird," I said.

"Fine then. Unusual, strange, crazy, just a freak," she laughed, raising her eyebrows. "Any other suggestions?"

"Different in a good way," I said quietly.

"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically.

"Katie, a lot of the time, being unusual or different is never a bad thing. It just shows that you're unique. In a nice way," I stated. "It's just what I believe."

_**Hope you are enjoying the story! Please R&R!**_


	6. Website Fixing

**Moss's POV**

Just as I finished comparing the fourth chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the phone rang. I was the only one left in the room. Jen was in her office and Roy was stealing food from the machine again so I was left to pick up the phone. I put my home made bookmarks in my books and picked up the phone.

"Hello IT," I began. "Have you tried forcing an unexpected reboot?"

"Hello, Moss!" I heard Claire's voice reply. "If you are asking if I have turned it off and on again, then yes I have."

"And it still doesn't work?" I asked.

"It works," she said as I noticed Roy coming back into the room. "There are just a lot of pop-ups coming up on the screen, and I was just hoping that seeing that you seem like you are great with computers, then you could help me."

"Well, um..." I stuttered, not used to the compliment. "I'm not sure about great, but I will be up."

I put down the phone, feeling Roy staring at me.

"Moss, why have you gone red?" He asked.

"I haven't!" I said defensively as Jen walked in.

"You have!" She said. "Have you been talking to Claire again?"

"I need to fix a computer," I said.

"Is it Claire's?" Jen teased.

"Yes," I said. "She's getting pop-ups on her computer so it needs sorting. Excuse me."

I shuffled past Jen as I made my way to Floor 5.

**Claire's POV**

I smiled at Moss as he walked over to me, again stopping to plug in a computer.

"Hi," I smiled as he reached my desk. "I don't know what has happened to the computer, but pop-ups keep appearing."

"What websites are you using?" He asked, moving my mouse around.

"I check my emails, but apart from that it's just normal work," I said.

"You have some harmful websites," he said, running a scan of my computer. He pressed a few buttons on my keyboard.

"That's strange," I said. "I use the same websites as the others."

"All done," he said.

"Thanks," I said. But before I said anything else, he had vanished.


	7. The Invitation

**Moss's POV**

I was checking my emails and to my surprise, I heard a knock at the door. I turned around and saw that it was Claire stood in the doorway.

"Hi," she said. "I was just wondering if maybe we could meet up by the outside of the building tonight so we could walk home together?"

I was so surprised by her offer, I didn't quite know what to say.

"Um, well... I..." I stuttered.

"He'd be delighted," said Roy, smiling.

I turned towards Roy in surprise at what he said.

"Really?" She smiled.

"I... I... well, I..." I tried to get my words together.

Jen walked in the room.

"What he is trying to say is that he will meet you at about five," Jen said.

"See you later then," she said.

As soon as she left, I got my ability to talk back.

"What did you do that for?" I gasped.

"Seeing as you wouldn't speak, we just did your organising for you," Roy smiled.

"Don't forget, Moss!" Grinned Jen. "Meet Claire at 5!"

I sighed as I looked back at my computer. Thanks to my colleagues, I had to meet someone that wasn't Roy or Jen and I had to develop an ability to talk to her.


	8. The Bullies

**Moss's POV**

"I need to stay a bit later tonight because FriendFace is making my computer a bit weird so don't wait for me, Moss," I heard Roy say. I frowned at him. As his best friend, I knew when he was lying.

"Is that right?" I asked.

"Fine, I want you to meet Claire alone so you could walk home together," he admitted. "Plus Jen needs a lift to see her mum so I am her taxi service."

"I can't believe you spoke for me when she asked if I wanted to walk with her," I said.

"Moss, it's not a date or anything," said Jen as she entered. "And you weren't able to speak earlier so we... helped you out a bit."

"Hm," I said, standing up and picking up my rucksack. "See you tomorrow."

**Claire's POV**

I glanced at my watch as I waited for Moss to turn up. Five past five. Ten past five. Finally I saw Moss walk out of the building and I walked up to him.

"You took your time!" I laughed.

"Sorry, I was held up by Jen and Roy and then the lift got stuck," he said.

We began to walk through the park when suddenly Moss stopped and froze on the spot.

"Are you alright?" I asked as he stared straight ahead. I followed his eye line and noticed that he was staring at six boys sat at a bench.

"They don't like me," he said for the first time since we left Reynholm Industries.

"Why?" I asked.

"They make fun of my glasses," he mumbled as he looked away.

"Two bodies are better than one," I smiled. "Let's go."

**Moss's POV**

I felt shocked as Claire began to walk. I did a fast walk to keep up with her.

"Alright, Four Eyes?" One of them laughed.

"Have you brought a bodyguard today?" Another smirked.

"No," Claire said. "I'm someone who just didn't expect to run into people who all have such low maturity levels."

A few of them raised their eyebrows.

"Excuse me, we both want to go home," she said.

"You won't always have your girlfriend to save your skin," shouted one of the boys as we walked past.

I turned around to tell them that Claire wasn't my girlfriend but she nudged me as we continued walking.

"Just ignore them," she said. "They're not worth it."

"How did you know how to get through with no trouble?" I asked in surprise.

"You're not the only one who has been bullied before," she said. "Trust me. You're not alone."

_**Please R&R!**_


	9. New Numbers

**Claire's POV**

I collapsed down on to my sofa when I got back to my flat. I didn't know what had gotten into me then - I saw Moss just unable to move and I suddenly had a flashback to my previous job and the way that I was treated. I didn't leave my job because I found a better opportunity at Reynholm Industries. I found a vacancy and moved away from where I lived and where I worked. I got fed up of being bullied.

Like Moss, I was mainly bullied about my glasses. But it was also the clothes that I wore and my different tastes in films and television programmes. So I decided to escape and start again. I remained exactly the same but I wore contact lenses instead of glasses. But the important thing was that I wasn't bullied at Reynholm Industries.

I had never told anyone about being bullied but for some reason I felt comfortable telling Moss. I think it was because I saw similarities between us. But still, I told Moss to keep the fact that I was bullied quiet. I didn't tell Douglas the real reason of why I moved jobs, I just said that this job sounded like a great opportunity.

**Moss's POV**

Claire surprised me for two reasons. The first reason was that she managed to silence the bullies easily and the second reason was that she revealed that she was bullied. I didn't ask why because I had a feeling that she didn't want to go into it so I promised that I would not say anything about it to anyone else.

As soon as we got to the point where we were supposed to walk in opposite directions, Claire stopped me.

"Moss, can I have your phone?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"You aren't going to beat me up and steal it, are you?" I asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't be asking you for your phone if I was planning to do that," she smiled.

Slowly, I handed her my phone and she started putting a phone number into my phone. She gave her phone to me.

"Put your phone number in," she said. I put in my number and she gave me my phone back and I gave her phone back to her.

"Right, you have my number now," she said. "Just look for 'Claire Andrews' in your phone book. If you need a chat then ring me at any time. Except in the early hours of the morning."

I nodded in understanding. Our conversation had been limited that day but I had someone to stand up for me that day and a brand new friend.


	10. Walking to Work

**Moss's POV**

I paused just outside the park the next morning. I peered around the wall, knowing that I was standing at a point where I could see the bullies but they couldn't see me. I knew that Claire said that I should ring her if I need any help. I found Claire's number in my phone. It was fairly easy to find the number because I only had 4 numbers in there - my mum, Roy, Jen and Claire. My finger hovered over the button that would decide whether I should call her or not. I shook my head and locked my phone.

Stomach churning and wishing that there was more than one way to work, I began to walk down the path. Claire made it look so easy when she was standing up to the bullies. Suddenly, I saw them look at me and face me. They formed a line so they would block my way to work. I stopped and tried to block out the sound of them laughing. One person against six wasn't fair.

"Is your girlfriend not here today?" Laughed one of the bullies.

"She's not my girlfriend," I said. "I want to get to work so can you move?"

"How rude," sighed one of them. "I think you will regret saying that."

Suddenly, I felt someone punching me in the stomach and shoving me on to the floor. I felt one of them kick me, smashing my glasses and giving me a nosebleed. Before I knew it, they walked away without looking back.

**Claire's POV**

I selected Moss's number and tried to ring him. There was no reply. Hoping that he just didn't hear his phone and he wasn't in any trouble, I put my phone in my pocket and set off for work. I started to think about what I was going to be doing that day.

**Moss's POV**

I walked through the corridor, my cheek hurting from the bruise developing. I held my nose to try and stop my nosebleed in my left hand and held my glasses to my face so I could see with my right. I walked into the room and caught Roy's eye.

"Oh my God, Moss, what's happened to you?" He gasped, leading me over to the sofa.

I pretended that I didn't hear him as we both sat down. Jen walked into the room and gasped as she saw me. She grabbed some tissues and one of the pairs of my slightly larger glasses. She tilted my head back and put the tissues on my nose.

"You'll have to wear these glasses today, you can't wear your usual ones," she said firmly.

"But those are for plans," I said.

"Well they will have to be for emergencies too," she said.

"Was it those bullies again?" Roy asked angrily.

"Yep," I said, trying not to sound too upset.

"I don't think you should be walking to work by yourself," sighed Roy.

"Great," I groaned. "Just what I need. Someone to escort me."

"Look at yourself," said Roy, putting his head in his hands. "I hate seeing this."

So, rather hesitantly, I agreed to have someone to walk home with me. At least if I was with someone I wouldn't feel as vulnerable.


End file.
